Bill passed by senate in defiance of western pressure against
legislation curbing gay rights
Monica Mark
guardian.co.uk, Tuesday 29 November 2011 15.43 GMT
A bill banning same sex marriages was passed by the Nigerian senate on
Tuesday. Nigeria is Africa's most populous nation, and one of the few
that hasn't bowed to western pressure to drop legislation that curbs
gay rights.
The bill, which makes same-sex marriage punishable by a 14-year jail
term, still has to be ratified by the country's lower house before
being signed off by the president, Goodluck Jonathan. It also seeks to
tighten existing legislation, which already outlaws gay sex, by
criminalising anyone who witnesses or assists such marriages and
making same-sex public displays of affection a jailable offence. Under
the new law, groups that support gay rights would also be
banned.During the debate in the capital, Abuja, one senator described
homosexuality as a "mental illness" to cheers of approval. Another
senator said that "such elements in society should be killed",
prompting a fierce debate among Nigerian Twitter users. Many in
Nigeria see the bill as a way for the government to score easy
political points in a deeply religious society which is largely
intolerant of homosexuality.
Only 1.4% of Nigerians felt "tolerant" towards sexual minorities,
according to a 2008 survey by Nigeria's Information for Sexual and
Reproductive Rights. Few dare to stand up for gay rights in the Muslim-
majority north, where homosexual acts can incur sentences of death by
stoning.
"I've never heard of a single Nigerian same-sex couple demanding to
have marriage rights," said Unoma Azuah, a writer and gay rights
activist. "So I am truly baffled as to why our lawmakers feel this
debate is more relevant than terrorism, corruption, lack of
infrastructure and education. The whole thing reminds me of the
traditional Igbo proverb that says, 'He whose house is on fire does
not go around chasing rats.'"
A Nigerian senator who spoke to the Guardian on condition of anonymity
rebuffed the criticism, saying it was necessary to debate "big and
small issues that matter for the country".
Much anti-gay rights sentiment is rooted in perceived suspicion that
it is a foreign import being foisted on the country by interfering
outsiders. While threats from western governments to cut off aid amid
growing anti-gay sentiment in the continent has forced other African
countries to scrap proposed anti-gay laws, it's had the opposite
effect in Nigeria, whose treasury is awash with dollars from its 2m
barrels-a-day oil industry. Nigerian rights activists have also
largely shied away from attracting the attention of their
international counterparts. "International gay rights groups have in
some situations been a hindrance more than a help because they are not
entirely aware of the kind of reality the Nigerian gay person lives
under. Sometimes, by sensationalising the situation, they have invited
the wrath of fundamentalist Christians who like to think of themselves
as the "guardians of the African culture," said Unoma Azuah.
Among rights activists, it has become a grim joke that homophobia is a
rare issue that unites the country's bickering Muslim north and
Christian south. With governments often failing to provide basic
services, the church is seen as a key social security net. "If you
don't have the church, you really don't have anything else," said one
gay Nigerian. He has refused to come out for fear of being forced to
"repent" by his church congregation.
The new laws will have repercussions well beyond the gay community,
said Damian Ugwu, an activist with the Lagos-based Social Justice
Advocacy Initiative. Migrants who shared accommodation for economic
reasons would be particularly vulnerable, he said. "From what I know
of the Nigerian police, they look for every opportunity to extort
money. With this bill, they won't go looking for gay couples in the
Sheraton – they'll go just go around rounding up people who are poor
or don't know their rights," he said.
In the north, policemen had visited hotels at night to seek out
unmarried couples sleeping together. They demanded bribes or
threatened to turn them in to the Islamic courts, Ugwu said.
© 2011 Guardian News and Media Limited or its affiliated companies.
All rights reserved.
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